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Motor Trend reveals 2016 Chevy Camaro as Car of the Year

The 2016 Chevrolet Camaro beat some very steep competition to earn the Golden Calipers as Motor Trend's Car of the Year. The magazine praised the sixth generation's fantastic engines, great handling, and lighter platform. "Our 2016 Car of the Year, the Chevrolet Camaro, is one of the finest driving vehicles in the world at any price," editor-in-chief Edward Loh said, "though its price is well within reach of the average consumer." The Camaro conquered some high-performance challengers to take the victory, including the Audi TT, Mazda MX-5 Miata, and Mercedes AMG GT S. It also bested technologically cutting-edge vehicles like the BMW 7 Series and Toyota Mirai. The latest Honda Civic rounded out the competition. To earn the prestigious award, nine judges evaluated the finalists in six categories: advancement in design, engineering excellence, safety, efficiency, value, and performance of intended function. The Volkswagen Golf won last year. In an engaging story on Motor Trend's website, it explains what a revelation the new coupe is and that they consider the model the best production pony car ever. The piece is well worth a read. Motor Trend also handed out the Person of the Year honor to Subaru of America President and Chief Operating Officer Thomas Doll. It praised him for the Japanese brand's massive success in the US like tripling deliveries since 2007. "By any measure, the business Tom Doll leads is an outstanding success," editor-at-large Angus MacKenzie said. "And he is the person whose unique vision and quiet leadership made it happen." Related Video: MOTOR TREND Announces 2016 "Of The Year" Winners Car of the Year, Truck of the Year, SUV of the Year, and Person of the Year announced during live ceremony and webcast in Los Angeles LOS ANGELES, Nov. 16, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, for the first time in the brand's 66-year history, MOTOR TREND announced winners of the Golden Calipers for Car of the Year, Truck of the Year, SUV of the Year, and Person of the Year at a red-carpet gala in front of an audience of industry insiders and celebrity guests. The awards show was also streamed live on the MOTOR TREND Channel on YouTube, with 3.5 million subscribers the world's largest automotive video channel, and on MOTOR TREND OnDemand, the brand's new subscription video on demand (SVOD) channel. A replay of the event broadcast is available for free at motortrendondemand.com. "What an amazing evening!

Consumer Reports says Toyota, Ford, Honda and Chevy are big winners in brand perception survey

According to Consumer Reports, the automotive brands that stand out in the minds of car buyers are, in order: Toyota, Ford, Honda and Chevrolet. This news comes after the magazine polled its readers, asking them to take into account vehicle quality, safety, performance, value, fuel economy, design/style, and technology/innovation - which are the factors that car shoppers are most influenced by.
It's important to note that this award is only about perception. In other words, it's perceived quality, not actual quality. "Often, perception can be a trailing indicator, reflecting years of good or bad performance in a category, and it can also be influenced by headlines in the media," said Jeff Bartlett, Consumer Reports deputy automotive editor.
The brand that made the biggest jump in perception amongst Consumer Reports readers is Tesla, which posted an impressive 47-point gain to finish in fifth place. Subaru is also notable for finishing in the top 10, despite being one of the smaller manufacturers doing business in the US. Scroll down below for all the details from Consumer Reports, if you're so inclined.

2019 Subaru Forester Long-Term Update | Road trip to New Orleans

Our 2019 Subaru Forester long-term tester is rounding second base in its stay at Autoblog’s Michigan HQ, yet the blue-painted, gold-wheeled crossover hadnÂ’t left the Midwest throughout its first six months here, so I sought to change that by taking it down to New Orleans. The goal: Determine if the Forester is a good road trip car. Of course, my girlfriend and I also wanted to go to Mardi Gras, but either way, we were in for some long days of driving. There are a few umbrella categories a vehicle should excel in to make a vacation and road trip better for all involved. For me, those include comfort, utility and its driver assistance systems. Comfort I was fairly certain this category would be a boon for the Forester going in. It sops up Michigan potholes well, and it did an excellent job on the various road surfaces I encountered on the way to New Orleans, too. SubaruÂ’s passive dampers on the Forester are tuned to make rough roads more livable as opposed to whipping around a highway clover leaf. That makes for soft and rolling eight-plus-hour days behind the wheel. The cabin at highway speeds was loud, though. A lot of that has to do with the Michelin X-Ice winter tires current fixed, but there's also a noticeable amount of wind noise that follows that. Plus, if you ever need to get going in a hurry, the thrashy boxer-four makes its presence known above all other noises as the CVT pegs the needle near the 6,000 rpm redline. Our Forester has the high-end Harman Kardon audio system equipped, but we still had to jack the volume way up to hear podcasts and quieter music. The cabin noise was never overwhelming, but it did become tiresome after a few hours with this many sounds competing with each other. Since we were driving due south or due north, those crosswinds werenÂ’t just audibly annoying. Gusts were plenty capable of blowing the Forester around in its lane due to its tall, upright stance. ItÂ’s not like a big panel van, but it was still disconcerting at times. There were only two of us on this road trip, so the front seats were the only ones in use. I was plenty comfortable for the trip's entirety. The driver seat's electric lumbar adjustability left my back in good shape, and the upright seating position is a bit like sitting in a chair at a kitchen table. The seatÂ’s cushioning was supportive enough to keep me from complaining, but never too stiff so as to be uncomfortable.